Birmingham

a city of England, on the Rea river near its confluence with the Tame, in the N. W. of War wicks hire, with suburbs _ extending into Staff ords hire and Worcesters hire: 112 miles N. W. of London, and 97 S. E. of Liverpool. It is the principal seat of the hardware manufacture in Great Britain. Birmingham is known to have existed in the reign of Alfred, in 872, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) by the name of Bermengeham. Another old name of the town is Bromwycham, a form still preserved very nearly in the popular local pronunciation, Brummagem. In 1903 the population was 533,039, an increase of 21.5 per cent. in a decade.